Organising My Work Life Balance When Working From Home

Going from working full-time in education to working from home was a huge deal for me. It gave me the much-needed time to spend with my family. It had always been a struggle juggling work and life. I feel my blog has given me the opportunity to change my situation. To do something I love and have more family time.

Working from home has so many wonderful advantages. I can now drop off and collect the boys from school. Cook healthier meals as I have more time to cook, I love cooking but only if I have the time. Fit in classes at the gym, something that was never possible before. All the things I felt I missed out on as a mum working full-time.

Having more time for me has been such a welcome reward.

This was the first thing to go when I was working and juggling life with a husband who worked long hours, and two boys that love sport. Who always have some kind of activity planned. And as I started working from home Chris’s work life balance shifted too, giving us much more time as a family at the weekends.

It also gives me the opportunity to enjoy sunny days. There is nothing worse than being stuck inside on the rare sunny days in the North.

On the flip side, I don’t have to risk life and limb to get to work when the snow is deep up on our little hill.

It takes a lot of resolve. Working from home is wonderful. But, it is so easy to work all of the time. And to let that work life balance slip, and to tempting to nip to my desk to send another email. Or take my laptop to the sofa in the evening and spend an hour tending to my social media. I am not going to lie I do do this. But I am getting better at getting that balance.

This I endeavour to keep that work life balance

Organise meals. If I don’t plan meals all my organisation goes out of the window as I end up faffing when planning at the last-minute. I always get distracted when I end up nipping to the butchers and supermarket. Have you even been for dinner and come back with beautiful flowers a new top and lovely smelling candles 3 hours later?

Plan my workload and posts, set aside time to film vlogs, take photos and do all the editing. And stick to those time slots.

Book my exercise classes in advance. I have found it more productive to book classes after school drop off so I am back home and ready to work for 11. I find I can concentrate better and get so much more done on days I have exercised. And if I don’t book them I choose to work instead of nipping to the gym. If I book I have to go!

Have a dedicated office area equipped with all the office furniture you need to work effectively, this keeps me focused. I find having a space to work really helps me.

Set aside time after school a couple of days a week when I concentrate solely on the boys. It may be just to watch a favourite show with Joe, or cook dinner or bake together but I aim to set aside that time every week. On the days that I work the boys are encouraged to do homework, I am available to help, but if we are all working more gets done.

Record all work agreed in my diary, and plan time to photograph and write them to ensure I keep to schedules and never have to write a last-minute post in the evening.

Last week I was sat with one of my friends, and she said “you are so lucky, you get to do what you want most of the time” there was no malice in her comment at all. Just an observation, and do you know what she was right. I might have taken what seemed at the time a gamble. But sometimes playing safe is not making you happy.

3 Comments

As you know I teach a couple of days a week – and see my working from as allowing me to have a work-life balance because I’m not teaching all the time. But actually, I don’t switch off. I need to be more focused and routine about my working at home – like you say, it’s too easy to just pop back to the laptop etc

I definitely agree that you need a dedicated office area, although I am so bad at sitting on the sofa when I should be at my desk! I couldn’t live without my filofax style organiser – everything goes in there and keeps me on the right track.